The Loyola Greyhounds men's lacrosse team entered the 2012 season ranked No. 21 in Face-Off Yearbook magazine. The ranking ranked them initially, and in response coach Charley Toomey made his team run 21 sprints, one for each team listed in front of them.

"When that first ranking came out in the beginnning of the season, we all felt disrespected," Junior LSM Scott Ratliff said. "We kind of knew we had a special team, not just because of the talent and athleticism, but because of how close we were, and how much of a family we really are."

It was an exhausting start to what has turned into an exhilarating season for the Greyhounds. Those sprints quickly became wins as 2012 progressed, finishing today in Gillette Stadium in the men's title game. Loyola won the program's first national championship, downing Maryland 9-3, in front of 30,816 on Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

The win caps a special season for the Greyhounds, which saw the team unranked at the beginning of the year before a near flawless regular season (18-1) that resulted in a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

"When I look at my locker room, I'm just so proud of them," Toomey said in the postgame press conference. "They handled every situation with diginity and class this year, coming back on sort preparation to come back to play a physical Maryland team, they responded in every way to give Loyola our first national championship."

Though known all year for their uptempo offense, in this game the Greyhounds defense stepped up to the plate. Loyola kept Maryland scoreless for 40:40 from the second quarter through the end of the game. Goalie Jack Runkel finished the game with seven quality saves, while close defenders Joe Fletcher, Reid Acton and Dylan Grimm forced the Terps to take weak shots through the game.

"It's been awesome, a dream come true to play with these guys," Runkel said of his defense after the game. "They give me shots that I want to see. "I'm a lot better up top seeing shots and saving them. Definitely credit to them."

Shortstick defensemen Josh Hawkins and Pat Laconi and LSM Scott Ratliff combined for eight groundballs, while dominating the middle of the field.

Attackman Eric Lusby led the Greyhounds in the final game as he had all postseason, earning Most Outstanding Player honors and setting a new record for goals in a tournament with 17 tallies. In the final, he scored four.

"It's kind of hard to explain, I just got hot at the right time," Lusby said after the game. "I knew going into the tournament my shot was a little off, I kept missing the cage so I know just wanted to shoot for net. But I have to give credit to all the other guys on the offense. The middies, from Davis Butts all the way to Pat Byrnes, Chris Layne. They were dodging hard all weekend, drawing slides and getting me the opportunities I had. And then Mike Sawyer drawing all the attention on his side of the field. When I had the opportunity to shoot and score I just wanted to make it count."

Loyola's midfield was also on point today, with Davis Butts, Pat Byrnes and Phil Dobson combining for three goals. Starting midfielder Chris Layne added three assists. Attackman Mike Sawyer added a goal and an assist.

Maryland lost its second straight championship game, and is still without a national title since 1975.